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Best way to clean carpet when the former owners had pets?

N

nanette1985

Diamond Member
Recently moved to inexpensive place owned by relatives - lovely people, but they had dogs/cats/birds/lizards etc and the carpet smells.

I know, number one thing to do is to replace the carpet, but they don't want me to. I'm too grateful for the roof over my head to argue.

ANY cleaning tips? Help me, pet owners.
 
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I'd hire a carpet cleaner to come in and treat it. We had a great cleaner come and clean our entire house (2800 sq ft) for under $300 and they got urine smell/stain out of our carpet from our new puppy.
 
I rent Rug Doctor machines. They work pretty well and aren't hard to use. If that doesn't work try Nature's Miracle.
 
One thing I actually used that surprised me with my two labs is to use a 50/50 (I think) solution of vinegar and water in a carpet cleaner.

It will stink to holy hell when you do it, but the smell dissipates while the solution dries. Next day, I sprinkled some baking soda about and vacuumed. Not perfection, but it worked fairly well IMO.
 
Visited a relative 2 1/2 years ago that had 2 dogs and a cat. The moment I walked in I had that horrible smell all around me. Did not raise issue or made a comment. Strange as it sounds, I got used to the smell in about a week of my 2 weeks visit.
 
Depends how shitty the previous people where honestly. If they just had dogs who had an accident once in a while then a normal carpet cleaning would be fine, as people have said here.

If they let their dogs shit and piss all over and didnt clean up properly then your best bet is to replace the flooring, especially the padding.
 
Give the rug doctor a shot, I've used them before with a decent amount of success. If the smell hangs around though you'll probably need a pro.
 
Stanley Steemer if they're in your area. We've used them numerous times. Maybe it's just the crew we get, but they do a great job...including pre-treating any stains, moving some furniture if needed, and they put foam blocks under the furniture that can't be moved from the room, like couches, etc. (they move it to clean, then put it back on the foam blocks)
 
BoomerD said:
Stanley Steemer if they're in your area. We've used them numerous times. Maybe it's just the crew we get, but they do a great job...including pre-treating any stains, moving some furniture if needed, and they put foam blocks under the furniture that can't be moved from the room, like couches, etc. (they move it to clean, then put it back on the foam blocks)
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Yeah, they're great. They can also steam fabric couches and chairs.
 
princess ida said:
Recently moved to inexpensive place owned by relatives - lovely people, but they had dogs/cats/birds/lizards etc and the carpet smells.

I know, number one thing to do is to replace the carpet, but they don't want me to. I'm too grateful for the roof over my head to argue.

ANY cleaning tips? Help me, pet owners.
Click to expand...

replacing is prob the only way.
now matter how much u clean the carpet, it's the padding thats smelling. the urine soaked down to it
 
I used to clean carpets with a big truck mounted steam cleaning system. I really don't think anything small you can rent yourself comes close. The heat on the steam and the suction provided by the truck mount will literally change the colors of some carpets. The water that comes out afterwards is really disgusting. People don't realize just how nasty and dirty their carpets really are.
 
JEDI said:
replacing is prob the only way.
now matter how much u clean the carpet, it's the padding thats smelling. the urine soaked down to it
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I noticed a lot apartment complexes will pull up the carpet and have the padding replaced and steam both sides of the carpet. It’s cheaper than total replacement. You could do the whole process yourself if you rented a commercial streamer and a carpet kicker to re-lay the carpet.
 
I take pride in doing most home improvement stuff myself, but I think this is one of those cases where it's just better to hire a pro.
 
If you call Stanley Steamer get them to pricematch. They're usually the most expensive, but the wife gets them to come down a ton by quoting other local cleaners that'll do it cheaper. Make sure to tell them what the problem is.

After you get the carpets cleaned it probably wouldn't hurt to rent an ozone generator.

Worst case scenario would be the smell has permeated the paint on the walls and you'll need to prime with a sealer that is made to encapsulate smells.
 
Nintendesert said:
I used to clean carpets with a big truck mounted steam cleaning system. I really don't think anything small you can rent yourself comes close. The heat on the steam and the suction provided by the truck mount will literally change the colors of some carpets. The water that comes out afterwards is really disgusting. People don't realize just how nasty and dirty their carpets really are.
Click to expand...


This is the reason I no longer have carpet in my home. I did tile / wood throughout. It doesn't matter how much you clean carpet , it always has dirt under it or in it. With tile or wood I can put down a roll up rug.
 
BTA said:
Depends how shitty the previous people where honestly. If they just had dogs who had an accident once in a while then a normal carpet cleaning would be fine, as people have said here.

If they let their dogs shit and piss all over and didnt clean up properly then your best bet is to replace the flooring, especially the padding.
Click to expand...

This. When looking for a house we checked out a house nearby to where we eventually bought. The house was at a great price, nice house and great location but the cat urine odor inside was gagging. That house changed owners at least three times in the next five years or so. I talked to the person who eventually stayed-in addition to replacing the carpet and padding (already tried by the intervening owners) they actually had to rip up and replace the subflooring.
 
rudder said:
Enjoy the smell then.

Dont worry after a few weeks you will get used to it.. although all your friends will think you smell like lizard pee.
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LOL.

I also thought about inviting my friends over and smoking a lot of pot. Question is whether the pot will cover the pet stuff nicely, or if I will just get an even more disgusting mix of pot and pet?
 
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